Follow the Music
by Omega Dragonslayer
Summary: Synth, one of the biggest names in music, likes the work of another artist more than his own work. When he suddenly meets her, she turns out to be much different than what he expected. *I changed the rating to M mid-story.
1. Chapter 1

Cheering ponies, bright lights, and the chanting of his name. His stage name.

"Synth! Synth! Synth!"

He smiled at the crowd. Even though he couldn't hear them through his headphones, he knew what they wanted. Encore.

The clock had passed 1:00 AM. 12:00 was supposed to be closing time. Without taking his headphones off, he grabbed his microphone, and said, "Alright everypony, thank you for being a wonderful audience! Goodnight!"

He stepped out from behind his equipment, and took a bow. The crowd roared.

He gave them another smile. It was a habit of his to smile at them. As he walked backstage, he finally took off his headphones.

"Great show tonight, man!"

"You really nailed that, Synth!"

More and more congratulatory messages from the ponies backstage.

He left out the back, where he knew the crowd was thinnest, and his average size and appearance allowed him to escape towards home undetected.

He looked back at the building he preformed in, then chuckled.

"You did pretty good tonight, buddy. Proud of ya." he said to himself with another chuckle.

He placed his headphones back onto his head and hummed along to the song that played. It wasn't of his own design, but from another artist. In fact, he liked this artist's work more than he liked his own.

Synth was an electronic artist, and he liked electronic songs. He was usually associated with the best of this generation's artists, but he disliked all the fame that came with it.

He loved making music, and loved making everypony happy, but the ponies that liked his music were starting to get very intrusive. Synth was a very solitary pony, and wasn't very good at social interactions. In fact, he was somewhat shy in public.

He felt the tap of a hoof on his flank, but ignored it. It happened again, and he decided to find out what it was.

He took the headphones off, and shut his music off, then turned around.

He let out a small gasp. Even in the darkness, the mare that had tapped on him was still the most beautiful mare he had ever seen.

"Uh... hello." she said nervously.

He took a step back, and was unable to look her in her eyes. "Hi."

"Are you Synth?" she asked him, more confidently.

"I... yeah. Yeah, I'm Synth. Wh-what do you want?"

She smiled ecstatically, and hopped into the air a few times. "Yeah! I knew it! I knew you were him!"

"Hey, hey, hey... Keep it down. Somepony else might notice me."

"Oh, sorry. The headphones really gave it away, though. Anypony who knows you knows that you wear those."

He looked to the headphones he wore around his neck. The normal version of them was known by the name Synth Waves, which he designed himself. His version, however, was an updated model of them. There was no visible difference other than the 'version 2.0' on one of the earcups, but it was practically invisible during the night.

"That right?"

"Yeah. Those things are pretty nice. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I really loved your show tonight."

"Thanks."

"I came all the way here from Ponyville to see it!"

"Oh really? I... I used to live in Ponyville, you know."

"Whoa, what? How long ago was that?"

"Just a few years."

"Man, we could've met before and I wouldn't even have known it! Oh, this is so exciting! I never thought I'd get to meet you."

"Um..."

"Do you think you can have a show in Ponyville next time?"

"M-maybe."

"You know, I'm an artist, too."

"I... You are?"

"Yeah. Maybe you've heard of me. Name's Vinyl Scratch."

His expression went blank. He didn't recognize it.

"Of course, I usually go by my stage name, Dj-Pon3."

This name he knew he had heard before.

"Wait..." he said. He looked at his music player, and scrolled through the artists. "You're Dj-Pon3?"

"You've heard of me?" she asked in disbelief.

He gave her the device, and her eyes opened wide. No less than seven of her songs were listed on it.

"You... you listen to my songs?!" she squealed, "Holy Mother of Celestia! This is unreal!" She was almost shaking with excitement.

"I... listen to a lot of underground stuff. My friend Pinkie Pie said that her friend made my kind of music, I just..." He didn't know what to say at this point. This mare was

completely awestruck. "I... Y-your music is fantastic."

Her voice was higher than normal. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. It's amazing."

Hearing the biggest name in dubstep and electronica say that her music was amazing was... amazing. She let out another overjoyed squeal.

When she got over her fit of happiness, she said, "Th-thank you, Synth."

"Yeah. Look... I gotta get home before anypony else notices me."

"Wait! Before you go... would you... maybe... like to stop by sometime? Maybe you could look over my equipment, or give me some pointers, or something."

"I guess that would be alright."

"Oh man... this is so cool. Uh..." She told him where she lived.

"Alright. I'll... see you. Goodbye..."

"Bye Synth!"

She pranced away with an air of victory. Synth, on the other hoof, was incredibly nervous.

"A mare just invite me over to her house." he said to himself in disbelief, "What do other ponies even do when they go visit their friends? I always eat when I visit Pinkie, but I..."

His nervousness turned into excitement as he realized that he had just met somepony he had respected for years. The first time he had heard het music was stuck in his memory. He was just starting with music making at the time, and it had inspired him to make something even better.

Many ponies would surely say that his was better, but he had always liked hers more.

He walked home, avoiding contact with anypony else. It was a small house that was out of the way, on the outskirts of Canterlot. Barely anypony knew he lived here.

He tossed his stuff onto the floor next to his bed, and collapsed into it.

"The next show's gotta be even better. Dj-Pon3's gonna be listening. She was prettier than I thought she would be." He yawned. "I wonder if Pinkie can give me any advice on asking her out to dinner."

***This was written in an hour, and is a draft. Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

Synth sat up on his bed, thinking about the mare he had met the night before. At the same time, he was stroking his pet cat, which was laying on his lap.

The thing that stuck out the most in his head was her appearance. If he wasn't famous, she would have never talked to him.

"Maybe that's why she talked with me in the first place..." he thought aloud, "Manager warned me about mares only in it for the money. She just didn't..."

Synth was still somewhat young at 20 years old, at least considering who he was, and since he didn't go out much, he never learned about other ponies.

He picked up his cat and set him aside. He reacted by going back to sleep.

Synth went into his basement, which was also his sound studio.

"She's Pinkie's friend, so she can't be all bad, can she? Nah... speaking of..."

He grabbed some paper and started writing a letter to Pinkie. All things considered, she was his only real friend. Their relationship wasn't very special. To him, at least. To Pinkie, all of her relationships were special.

They had met a while ago, while he lived in Ponyville. Ever since he moved to Canterlot, they had remained friends. Sometimes they sent letters back and forth, and sometimes she showed up unannounced.

"Hey Pinkie, it's been a while, yeah? Can you come over sometime soon? I got something I wanna talk with you about."

Short and simple. He briefly contemplated adding 'Love Synth' at the end of it, but just shrugged, and simply wrote his name.

It was slightly foggy out, but he didn't really care. He just set it in his mailbox, and went back inside.

Not even one hour later, somepony knocked on his door. To his surprise, Pinkie Pie was standing outside.

"Uh... Hey, Pinkie... How did..."

"I always know when my friends need my help." she said seriously.

She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and he returned it.

"I will never understand you. Haven't seen you in a while, Pinkie. How have you been? What've you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing much. My best friend became a Princess. You know, just typical every-day stuff."

"I think I've heard about that in the news recently." he said as if it were light business, "You know, I've been wondering if I could meet some of your friends sometime. Maybe you could bring them around next time."

"That sounds great!"

"They just gotta be able to keep it a secret, though. Alright?"

"Of course. That isn't what you needed me for, right?"

"Uh... no." He walked inside his house, and she followed. "I, uh... I met a mare recently, and..."

"Ol' Synth is finally growin' up, eh?" she joked, followed by a giggle.

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Something like that... She invited me over to her house to hang out."

"So what do you need from me? Kissing lessons?"

"Pinkie... It isn't like that."

She gave him a sly smile. "Oh, really?"

"Ok, it's a little like that. Look, the thing is, you know her."

"Really? Who is it? Rainbow Dash? No wonder you're nervous! Who wouldn't be nervous around somepony that pretty?"

"It's not her."

"Is it Fluttershy?"

"No."

"Is it me?"

"Are you just gonna keep guessing all day?"

She made a determined pose. "I'm gonna try."

He laughed at her. "It's Dj-Pon3. You know, Vinyl Scratch."

"That would've been my ninth guess. Wait, what? You met Vinyl?"

"Yeah... and..." His voice softened. "She was beautiful."

"Do you have a crush on her?"

"Um..."

"You do! Oh, this is so exciting! Oh... Well... You're already a celebrity. What do you need my help with?"

"Well... you know her a lot better than I do. Just tell me some things that I should avoid doing, and maybe something she'd like."

"Well, you're already a music artist, so that part's covered. Alright, I suppose I can help you. On one condition."

"Alright... what is it?" he asked warily. He had absolutely no idea where she crossed the line, so the possibilities were endless.

"You have to let me tell her I did this for you. It's really sneaky asking me these kinds of questions."

"That's... Yeah, that's fine."

She smiled, and began to walk around him, examining him.

"Well, you look alright." she said, "You're a really cute stallion."

"Uh... th-thanks."

"Vinyl doesn't like all that sappy romance stuff that you see in movies. Don't try to get her flowers or chocolates or anything like that and expect to get anywhere with her."

"Noted."

"Don't show her up. Even an accidental incident might make her mad."

"Alright."

"But something she does like is your music. I heard her talk about you a few times."

"Really? Did she... say anything I should know?"

"Not really. Mostly about your music and stuff. When she started talking about speakers and microphones and voltage and wattage and amps and all that technical stuff, I lost track of where the conversations went."

"Lucky me, I know all about that kind of stuff."

The cat walked in front of Synth, and loudly meowed at him.

"What?"

Meow!

"What is it?"

Merow!

"Meow!" Synth started copying him.

He hopped up on Synth's lap, and rubbed his head against his chest.

"I think he's hungry." Pinkie chimed in.

Meow!

"Maybe. But now he's on me. I don't think he thought this through. How am I gonna get you food if you're laying on me, huh?"

He proceeded to plop down on his lap and stare at Pinkie Pie.

Synth grumbled. "Stupid cat..."

"I told you that Rarity has a cat, right?"

"I think I remember you saying something like that. Uhh... Opalescence, was it?"

"That's right."

Synth let out a deep breath, and ran his hooves through his mane. "I gotta talk to my manager. Vinyl asked me to preform in Ponyville sometime."

"I'd like that a lot. You've never had a show in Ponyville before."

"Yeah... but... Do you trust Vinyl Scratch?"

"What? Of course I do!"

"Well, I don't know her, Pinkie. She seemed nice, but I don't know anything about her. I have trust issues, you know that."

Pinkie's smile slowly started to fade as she remembered something about her friend. "Vinyl is very... eccentric."

"Eccentric? What does that mean? In what ways."

"She's not dangerous... she's just... different."

"Different how, Pinkie?"

"I don't think I want to keep talking about this."

"What? C'mon, you can't just leave me hanging like this! Pinkie!" Synth was legitimately worried at this point.

Pinkie felt somewhat guilty as she started saying this, but it was something that she thought had to be said. "Look Synth... I think it would be better if you learned about her for yourself. She's not going to try and hurt you or anything. Vinyl is really sweet. It's just that... sometimes... she makes... what Twilight would call bad choices." She was noticeably saddened.

Synth looked away. "Bad choices..." He stroked his cat again, then said, "What do you think, AK?"

He just yawned at him, then got off, and meowed again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

He idly got up to feed AK, and paused for a few moments in the kitchen, mulling over the information he had received. He returned, and sat back down on his couch.

"So... are you still going to visit her?" Pinkie asked him.

"I... yeah. Yeah, I'm going. Sorry about... all this. I appreciate the help.

Pinkie gave him a small smile. "I'm glad you're finally starting to make some friends."

"Yeah... me too."

***I don't want to make long chapters for this story. There are so many directions that it could go, and I think I've chosen one. Unfortunately, that direction entails that I would be writing against my beliefs about the MLP world. I'll figure it out.**

**Also, just a side note here, I went bowling a little while ago, and I got a 25. That's right... 25. Roman taught me nothing. Not a big surprise considering I've never played GTA IV, but whatever.**

**Also, the cat's named AK for a reason.**


	3. Chapter 3

***I decided to change the rating to M. It was mostly to give me more freedom, but was a needed change. Sorry if it caused any problems.**

Synth was sitting on the train to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie was still with him. If she wasn't, he probably wouldn't even have the courage to leave Canterlot. There are too many ponies around these parts, but at least Ponyville was a little smaller. He dislikes being touched, and can't handle being crowded.

He had his headphones on. Music wasn't playing, it was just an excuse to ignore everypony. He had a talent of ignoring other ponies. The headphones did most of the work.

As if on cue, ponies started to recognize him.

'Maybe it really is the headphones...' he thought as he closed his eyes. His face was somewhat forgettable, but the headphones stood out so much.

These ponies quickly realized that they would get nowhere with him, and took their seats.

Pinkie was fine with being ignored. She already knows how Synth gets in public.

After the train started moving, he cracked his eyes. Some of them were still looking at him, and one even had a camera pointed toward him. He slid away from Pinkie so that they wouldn't get mixed up.

He started thinking again. 'What bad choices?'

There were a lot of things that he would consider a bad choice. He had too many places to start guessing. Of course, Pinkie still trusted her.

He fell asleep where he sat, and a few hours in, he woke back up. It was the middle of the night, and everypony else was fast asleep.

He stood up, and went to get a small snack from the desert cart. He got a muffin from the lazy stallion running it, who couldn't care less about who he was at the moment.

It tasted alright. He preferred Pinkie's cooking, though. That mare sure knows how to bake.

He was particularly fond of the night. It gave him a shroud to move around undetected. Every so often, he spent some time outside in the middle of the night, just staring up at the sky, or exploring the area near his house. Of course, there wasn't much to explore.

Other times, he might visit an all-night diner or something like that. Canterlot had great cuisine.

Pinkie slept soundly where he had last seen her. He found it very cute, and caught himself staring as he sat back on his seat. It wasn't long, but it was noticeable. Provided somepony was awake to see it, at least.

He went back to sleep, and woke up to somepony poking him. He felt annoyed by it until he opened his eyes to see that it was Pinkie. He smiled. The train had stopped. He was back in Ponyville.

A nearby clock read out 5:00, and the sky told him that it was 5:00 PM.

He rubbed his hooves against his eyes. "Haven't been here in a while. Further than I remembered."

"Don't worry, it's pretty much the same." she said with a cheerful smile.

They both exited. He assumed that the ponies who were interested in him had already figured out that they were traveling together.

She led him from the station into town. Less ponies recognized him, but their enthusiasm was still the same. All he could do was return their affection with awkward waves.

"Thanks, Pinks. I can do it from here. I'll see ya later. Tell ya how it goes."

"Good luck, Synth!"

She lightly wrapped her arms around him, and he returned it.

Synth heard the shutter of a camera go off, and groaned in despair. There was nothing he could do. He instantly blamed Pinkie.

They parted, and he walked around town. He thought he knew where the street was, but was off, so he just wandered.

He removed his headphones, closed his eyes, and paused. His ears had always been very keen. He was listening for music playing from inside a house. He figured that since she was also an artist, it was likely that she was listening to some music, as he usually did.

He picked up a faint bass-line, and followed it to the source. The noise grew considerably as he approached the house. He was still in the street, and down the block from the source.

He turned to see that five ponies that had followed him. Three had notepads, two had cameras.

"Synth, can I ask what you're doing in Ponyville?"

Questions were alright. He was used to answering questions. The faster he answered, the faster they would leave. That's how it usually works. "I'm thinking of having a concert here. Looking for a nice place."

The reporter's eyes lit up as he furiously scribbled something down on the pad.

The ponies with cameras snapped some pictures.

"So what is your relationship to the mare that you were with as you arrived here?"

Synth chose his words carefully this time, and avoided giving her name. "We're not together, if that's what you're thinking. She's just one of my friends."

He wasn't above threatening them, and had even gone as far as to take legal action against the ponies who 'stretched the truth.' Ponies knew not to mess around with him, but it still didn't stop them.

More writing. More pictures.

They asked a lot of questions, but the photographers quickly exhausted their usefulness and left. Not many pictures could be taken from somepony who just stood there with a blank face.

That's another thing he was good at. Keeping a straight face.

The questions ranged from his personal life to public appearances to rumors about a new line of Synth Waves.

To the latter, he responded with, "The V-2 is an upgraded version of the Synth Waves. The construction is more solid, and the design is more comfortable. They should drop in about two weeks."

When they had exhausted all of their questions, they started to leave. One by one, they disappeared from sight. Synth made sure that they were gone before moving towards the house.

He started to get nervous. After all, Vinyl Scratch was somepony he didn't know. Being a mare made it even worse for him.

His stomach began to knot as he raised his hoof to knock. He figured, even hoped, that the music inside would drown it out, but she quickly called out a response.

Synth looked back. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that nopony was there.

The door opened. She stared at him, and gave him a big smile. "Synth! You made it!"

"Y-yeah."

"Come in! Make yourself at home."

She walked back inside. Her tail flicked against his nose, making him flustered. He briefly hesitated, and walked in, closing the door behind him.

Her house was a bit dimmer than his. It was messy, and seemed relatively uncared for. She walked into a small kitchen area, which was separated from the front room by a counter.

She began to talk while she rummaged through her refrigerator.

"I kinda didn't expect ya to show."

"O... oh yeah?" His voice cracked a little.

"I knew you would, though."

"Uh... S-So..."

She walked over to him, with two bottles of something floating next to her. She offered one to him.

He took it. 'Beer... eh...' He tried it before, but it had just never been very pleasant for him. Synth set the bottle on the table to his side.

"What, don't like?"

He thought about avoiding it, but figured that it was a bad idea. "I'm... not that big on drinking."

"Suit yourself." She took it back from him, and kept it with her. "C'mon, I keep my stuff downstairs."

"Alright."

He noticed that she wore a constant smile, but didn't really think anything of it.

He started thinking about this. 'Was... that the bad choice Pinkie was talking about? I guess... Princess Twilight Sparkle would consider it that, but Pinkie wouldn't make that seem so serious. She drinks sometimes too, lots of ponies do. It isn't that bad.'

He followed her, mentally crossing that off the list.

Her sound system was actually fairly impressive for a pony like her. The speakers were great brands, and her equipment was top of the line.

In this environment, he began to relax. It reminded him so much of home. It was as if his problems were melting away.

"Wow... This is pretty nice." he said to her.

"Thanks. I try."

He noticed that some of the cords running to the speakers were tangled up. It wouldn't have bothered most ponies, but his were always perfect. Out of the way and hard to notice. This was just a mess.

"I was thinking of getting another sub, but the one I'm looking at is a little out of my price range. Bet you don't have a problem with that, do ya?"

Money... "I don't overdo it. My system can only go so loud before my cat starts hating me."

"You have a cat?"

"That's right. He always gets mad at me when I turn it up too loud."

"Sounds like he owns you instead of the other way around."

"Such is the life of a cat owner."

She let out a chuckle. Synth couldn't help but feel a uneasy as he heard it. His typical shy demeanor briefly returned, but faded quickly.

"So... what do you do for a living?" he asked, somewhat apprehensive about saying her name.

"Same as you, just on a smaller scale. Concerts, parties, that sort of thing. It's pretty nice. Get a lot of freedom when I'm not working." She finished off her bottle, and dropped it into a bin, then opened the bottle she got back from Synth. "Sure you don't want some? Hate to drink it all on my own."

There wasn't anything really stopping him. "I... Alright, I guess." He turned to her.

The bottle floated next to him. He reached his hoof out, but she pulled it back. He tilted his head and gave her a questioning look.

Her smile changed from a general cheerfulness to a more devious smile. Her eyes gazed directly into his as she opened her mouth wide, stuck her tongue out, and made a show of licking the mouth of the bottle.

His eyes widened. He was stunned. It had taken him completely by surprise.

Another chuckle. She walked past him, setting it directly in front of him, and brushing her tail against him again. As she did this, she whispered into his ear, "Drink up..."


End file.
